Uncle Wiggily's Travels eBook

Pretty soon, not so very long, they came to a pond
of water, and as soon as Towser saw it, he cried out:

“Oh, it is such a hot day I think I’ll
jump in and have a swim. Come on, Uncle Wiggily,
have a swim with me.”

“Oh, no, I can’t swim,” said the
old gentleman rabbit.

“What! You can’t swim?” cried
the dog. “Well, every one ought to swim,
for when they go on their vacation if they fall in
the water they won’t drown if they know how
to keep themselves up. Watch me and see how easy
it is.”

So Towser set the satchel down on the bank and, taking
off some of his clothes, into the water he jumped
with a big splashy dive. Right down under the
water he disappeared.

“Oh, he’ll be drowned, sure!” cried
Uncle Wiggily, who was much frightened. But,
no. In a second up came Towser, shaking the water
from his hair and eyes, and then he began swimming
around as easily as a chicken can pick up corn.

“Come on in, Uncle Wiggily,” he called.
“The water is fine.”

“Oh, I’m afraid!” said the rabbit.

“Then the first thing to do is to get so you
are not afraid of the water,” said the dog.
“You needn’t be. Just see; it will
hold you up easily if you go at it right. Just
keep your nose out, and don’t splutter and splash
too much and you can swim. Come in and I will
give you a lesson.”

So Uncle Wiggily got in the water. At first it
took his breath away, but after a bit he got used
to it, and he found that he could wade away far out.
Then he tried holding his breath and ducking his head
away under, and he found that he could do that and
not be harmed in the least, and at last he got so
he wasn’t afraid at all in the water.

“Now for a lesson,” said the puppy dog.
“You must wade out so that the water is up to
your neck, and then you face toward shore, so you won’t
be frightened. Then you just lean forward, gently
and easily, and you kick out with your legs like a
frog, and you wave your hands around from in front
of you to your sides, and keep on doing that and you’ll
swim.”

“I’ll try it,” said the rabbit.

So he tried it, but, all of a sudden, he cried out:

“Ouch! Oh, my! Oh, dear me! Oh,
hum, suz dud!”

“What’s the matter,” asked the dog,
looking around.

“A fish bit my toe,” exclaimed the rabbit.

“Oh, I guess you only hit it on a stone,”
said Towser. “Fish are too frightened to
bite any one. Come on, strike out and swim as
I do.”

Then Uncle Wiggily wasn’t afraid, and soon he
was swimming as nicely as could be. For you know
to swim you must first not be a bit afraid of the
water, for it can’t hurt you. If ever you
fall in, don’t breathe—­just hold
your breath as long as you can. Then, pretty soon
you’ll come up, and if some one doesn’t
grab you, and you go under again, hold your breath
until you come up once more and then some one will
surely grab you.